Curiosis fabricavit inferos. He fashioned hell for the inquisitive. St. AugustineConfessions. Bk. XI. Ch. XII. Quoting an unnamed author. Adapted from Alta, scrutantibus gehennas parabat. God prepared hell, for those who are inquisitive about high things.

El infierno es lleno de buenas intenciones. Hell is full of good intentions. Adapted probably from a saying of Antonio Guevara, quoted by the Portuguese as Hell is paved with good intentions, and roofed with lost opportunities.

A dungeon horrible, on all sides round,As one great furnace, flamed; yet from those flamesNo light, but rather darkness visibleServd only to discover sights of woe,Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peaceAnd rest can never dwell, hope never comesThat comes to all; but torture without end.MiltonParadise Lost. Bk. I. L. 61.

Do not be troubled by St. Bernards saying that Hell is full of good intentions and wills. Francis de SalesLetter to Madame de Chantal. (1605). Letter XII. P. 70. Selections from the Spiritual Letters of S. Francis de Sales. Trans. by the author of A Dominican Artist. Letter LXXIV in Blaise ed. Quoted also in Letter XXII, Bk. II. of Leonards ed. (1726). Collets La Vraie et Solide Piété. Pt. I. Ch. LXXV.

Facilis descensus Averno est;Noctes atque dies patet atri janua Ditis;Sed revocare gradum, superasque evadere ad auras,Hoc opus, hic labor est. Easy is the descent to Lake Avernus (mouth of Hades); night and day the gate of gloomy Dis (god of Hades) is open; but to retrace ones steps, and escape to the upper air, this indeed is a task; this indeed is a toil. VergilÆneid. VI. 26. (Averni in some editions.)

In the throatOf Hell, before the very vestibuleOf opening Orcus, sit Remorse and Grief,And pale Disease, and sad Old Age and Fear,And Hunger that persuades to crime, and Want:Forms terrible to see. Suffering and DeathInhabit here, and Deaths own brother Sleep;And the minds evil lusts and deadly War,Lie at the threshold, and the iron bedsOf the Eumenides; and Discord wildHer viper-locks with bloody fillets bound. VergilÆneid. Bk. VI. L. 336. C. P. Cranchs trans.

In the deepest pits of Ell, Where the worst defaulters dwell(Charcoal devils used as fuel as you require em), Theres some lovely coloured rays, Pyrotechnical displays,But you cant expect the burning to admire em! Edgar WallaceNature Fails. LEnvoi.